Family Ties
by BizarreBard
Summary: The council always did like to play with the lives of their champions. How will Faith and Buffy react when they find things they were sure of are really just a set of manipulations for the 'Greater Good' Faith grew up a little differently and will not be some damaged lonely rogue. Still has her 5 by 5 flair but now she has a reason to fight. Non-graph mention of rape, need a beta.
1. Prologue

Faith was tired, the last seventy two hours had been hell, her watcher was dead some crazy ancient vamp and his minions were chasing her, and she was on the run, following her watchers last words of help, on her way to Sunnydale California to get the aid of Rupert Giles and his slayer Elizabeth. Faith was thankful she had been able to get her watchers will settled before packing up and getting the hell out of dodge otherwise she would be flat broke and have no way to do anything. Diana, her watcher, was an extremely wealthy British woman and had been Faiths guardian and surrogate mother to her for the last seven years, and so had left absolutely everything to Faith in her will. It had taken a couple tension filled days after Diana's death but eventually she had gotten everything squared away.

After dealing with bank accounts and transfers and getting packed up and leaving a note for her boyfriend Rory who was out of town, she grabbed her son, hopped in her mustang (a sweet 16 present from Di) then proceeded to speed out of Boston. Now with just a few more hours left in the trip, her son sleeping in the passenger seat, she used the time driving to reflect on her life, her last name wasn't always Lehane. She remembers having a family who loved her, her mom and dad she doesn't remember too well but her twin sister, she remembers the most. Best friends, partners in crime, as different in looks and personality as light and day. Princess and Firecracker were what their parents called them and Faith admitted she was a little firecracker when she was younger. They were always getting into trouble together and they always blamed the firecracker, nobody ever suspected Princess was usually the mastermind behind their mischief, which to this day still amused Faith. She never could pull off the innocent act like her sister. On the day of their 8th birthday a car wreck changed their whole world.

Faith doesn't remember much about that horrible day. She woke up in a hospital and there was a man in her room who seemed to have been waiting for her, when she asked for her family he answered in a business like tone that they were dead and she needed to forget about them now and he would be bringing her to her new guardian. What a hell of a way to break the news to a child that her family was gone. Prick didn't even seem to care that he had just shattered an eight year olds whole world. Faith was in shock, she didn't pay attention as he drove her to an apartment on the south side of Boston and dumped her in the care of some strung out looking waitress named Rose Lehane. The only time she paid attention was when they said she had a new name and it was Faith Marie Lehane; she hated her new last name and vowed to change it back to her family's surname as soon as she could.

Rose really didn't seem to care for children too much, never really acknowledging Faith's existence but making sure she got the basics, food, shelter, a couple of outfits and things were ok for a while until Rose lost her job. Instead of going out and getting another one she blamed Faith and spent all of her time drinking or doing drugs, then she started bringing home random men, the last one was the worst, A man by the name of Gable. On Faiths eleventh birthday he decided to give himself a present, her virginity. Faith lay in her bad for hours after it was over, crying and listening to hear him leave. When he was gone she came out and told Rose what happened, big mistake. Rose was drunk and angry; she flipped out and beat Faith for being a slut and stealing her man then passed out. Faith had come from a loving family and knew what happened was wrong and wasn't going to let it happen again, she called the cops. Rose got arrested and charged with drug use, child abuse, neglect and endangerment, Gable was caught and charged with her rape. The social services didn't know what to do with Faith and were about to put her in an orphanage when Diana showed up and adopted her.

Faith was wary of this new guardian at first which was understandable when you remember what the last one was like. It took a while but eventually she began to open up and consider the lady a mother especially when Faith found out she was pregnant from that pervert Gable. Being only eleven Faith had freaked out but when Diana said they could get rid of the pregnancy or give it up for adoption Faith had refused, stating she may not have wanted it but the baby was hers and after losing her family she was determined not to lose anymore. Diana had supported her and helped her through the pregnancy, on October 4th Faith gave birth to a healthy baby boy who she named Kyler. Diana immediately fell into the role of doting grandmother, doing everything she could to take care of Faith and help with Kyler.

At 13 Faith was attacked by a werewolf on her way home from the store, she was saved by a boy who had been passing by. Faith woke up in the hospital where her leg was stitched and wrapped. The doctor explained that she had been bitten by a wild animal and passed out from blood loss but lucky for her, her friend had scared it off, that's when she noticed a boy standing in the corner next to her watcher. A little taller than Faith, He was looking down and shifting from one foot to the other nervously, he had light skin and shaggy auburn hair, his clothes seemed frayed and worn out. When he finally looked up Faith caught his eyes and gasped, they were the most vivid blue she had ever seen. As they stared at each other neither one noticed the doctor leaving until Diana spoke:

"Faith, you know better than to walk alone at night, especially during a full moon, this young man here told me it was a werewolf that bit you. I need you to describe the beast to me, unfortunately there are different strands of the curse and we need to figure out which one it was, it will make coping with your new condition easier."

Di, seeing that Faith was in shock at the news, walked up to the bed and wrapped her in a tight hug trying to reassure her.

"Don't worry my dear, your still the same person you were, I'll help you learn to control it. I'm just glad your still here, if it hadn't been for young Rory here things might have been far worse. I talked to him while you were out and it seems he has nowhere to go. He is half bracken demon and his family was recently killed by a group of vampires, he was looking for somewhere to sleep when he saw the werewolf attack you. He's 15 and if it's alright with you I'd like him to come live with us."

Faith absorbed everything her watcher was saying and looked at Rory, he looked back at her and she noticed the grief and tentative hope in his eyes. She remembered how she felt when she was told her family was gone and how alone she was until Diana found her. According to her watcher he was half demon but that didn't matter to Faith, after all was she not now going to be a werewolf? He was just a kid like her, lonely and lost, not quite human, she was grateful to him for the help and it would be nice to have someone her age to talk to about supernatural stuff, to have someone else around who was different like her.

She gave Rory a smile before speaking to him: "Thank you for saving my life. I know how hard it is to lose your family and feel alone. If you want to come live with us I agree with Di, it would be nice having someone around my age I can talk to and I think my son Kyler would like you."

Diana became the foster mother of Rory Flynn, something he would be forever grateful for. Little Kyler grew attached to Rory very fast and even started calling him daddy, this made Rory nervous until Faith reassured him that it was alright. Faith and Rory also grew very close, becoming a couple when Faith turned 15. Rory loved his new family and was very protective of them, especially Kyler whom he had considered his since the very first daddy.

Diana taught Faith about her calling but also felt she needed to plan for a future and get a proper education to care for her son, first she decided to do some tests to gauge where Faith was academically. That's how they discovered Faith was a genius and right away they set to work on pursuing a higher education, by the time Faith was 14 she had finished high school and was ready to start college, she decided to pursue a degree in nursing and languages figuring it would be helpful if she ever got called and by the time she was 17 she had her degree and was done with college and could speak an impressive amount of dead and demonic languages, not to mention French, Spanish, German, Italian, mandarin, and Greek, all of which she made sure to teach to Kyler, Diana thought that with his intelligence he could make a decent watcher some day and he should learn as much as he can even if he didn't become a watcher. Her son was like a mini version of her, the only difference was that he was male and had black hair, everything else was pure Faith. From the chocolate eyes and dimples to the confident attitude and startling intelligence. He was a little charmer and the smartest kid in Boston, and thanks to having Diana as a grandmother he was also very polite.

Faith broke out of her thoughts as she passed the welcome to Sunnydale sign driving into town and grabbing a decent motel for the night deciding to rest. Tomorrow she would drop Kyler off at a daycare then off to Sunnydale high to speak to this Giles guy, he was the librarian. Faith went to bed thinking that tomorrow she would finally have help with Kakistos and in making sure nothing happens to Kyler.


	2. Meetings

_-Thoughts are in italics-_

**The Next Morning**

Faith was slowly dragged from sleep by the prodding of her son. "Mom wake up, I'm hungry." Faith cracked an eye open to glance at Kyler who was standing in front of her bed with his arms crossed and an impatient expression on his face as he stared at her and tapped his foot waiting for a response. She closed her eye and pretended to still be asleep. This prompted Kyler to start poking her again before speaking to her in an annoyed voice " Hey! I know your awake, I'm not blind here I saw your eye open. Get up, you have things to do, people to see and a kid to feed here. Do I really have to dump water on you like Grandma Di use to?" At this Faith let out a small chuckle and opened her eyes to look at her son " Calm down little man I heard ya, let me take a shower and then I'll take ya to get some chow, wanna watch some cartoons while you wait for me?" Kyler seemed to think about this for a moment before nodding his acceptance then jumping on the bed and switching on the TV. Faith smiled at his choice of show, Daria, not exactly what someone would expect a 6 year old to enjoy but then again Kyler wasn't your typical kid. He had a quick mind and intelligence that belied his young age. As she walked by him she gave his hair an affectionate ruffle and made her way to the bathroom to prepare for the day.

While in the shower Faith planned her day, she would feed her son before dropping him off at a daycare then head out to Sunnydale High in search of this Giles guy. She would explain her situation then ask for help and hell maybe even meet the other slayer while shes at it. Satisfied with her plan she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower to get ready. After dressing and applying her makeup, she decided to forgo straightening her hair in favor of letting her natural curls show for the day. She looked in the mirror and smirked at her reflection. By looking at her you would never expect she was a mother and college graduate. She had a great body and knew how to use it to her advantage, not that she went around sleeping with people but she could look the part. She had on heavy eye liner and dark lipstick, tight black leather pants and a skintight blood red tank top, the tattoo on her arm dark against her skin and her well toned stomach on display when she lifted her arms. Image was all about camouflage to Faith. She played up the uneducated bad girl reputation in public, things were better if people underestimated you, she had a killer body that she knew was the envy of almost every other female she met, add in her sensually husky voice and predatory walk and she was the definition of confident and sexy. Faith dressed this way because for one she enjoyed the attention and she knew that there were advantages to people and vampires thinking you were just some uneducated slut on the prowl for a screw.

Faith was able to ignore the dirty looks and opinions of other people because she knew who she really was, a 17 year old genius and a hell of a mother with no interest in sex before marriage, Gable was her one and only sexual experience and she planned to keep it that way until she got married. I know what you all thinking, no way Faith would plan to wait for marriage! Well it wasn't just about Faith, everything she did she thought about how it would affect Kyler and she refused to bring people in and out of his life or give herself to someone that she didn't think would stick around for them.

Faith could feel the judgmental stares of people on her as she and her son were eating their breakfast at the local Doublmeat palace but she ignored them, thankful that Kyler knew not judge people by their clothes or what others thought about them but on their choices and personality. After finishing their meal they drove over to UC Sunnydale where Faith dropped Kyler off with a promise to pick him back up at around 3pm, then she proceeded onto the high school.

All eyes were on Faith as soon as she got out of her car and she was inwardly smirking as she strolled through the halls on her way to the library, she may not do anything about the looks and cat calls but the attention was good for a girls ego. Upon entering the library she immediately spotted a bespectacled middle age man in a tweed suit that just screamed "I'm British!"She assumed this was the watcher which he confirmed when he introduced himself as Rupert Giles and asked how he could help her. Faith then introduced herself and went on to explain the situation with her watcher and Kakistos. He was sad to hear about Diana, they had grown up together and she was a fine woman, Giles wasted no time in pledging his help to help defeat the monster who had ended his friends life. Faith was extremely relieved and very grateful and she sat down with Giles to research and learn more about the habits of the dangerous vampire that was determined to have his revenge on her.

Around lunch time Faith was getting hungry and decided to grab a bite to eat, when asking Giles if he would like her to pick anything up he requested she pick up a few pizza's explaining that the other slayer and her friends sometimes came into the library for lunch. So she went and grabbed a few pizzas and some drinks making it back to the library a few minutes before the lunch period started. Setting down the pizzas and making her way back out the door to use the restroom she warned Giles not to let anybody else touch her anchovy pineapple pizza.

**LUNCH- BUFFY **

As soon as the bell rings I'm out of my seat and out the door before most of the class, I absolutely hate chemistry and always bolt out the door as soon as I can. My teacher learned the hard way that Buffy and chemicals are unmixy things, really the less time I spend in that room the better for all. I go to my locker and drop off my books before meeting with Willow and Xander and heading to the library to annoy Giles. My friends keep giving me sneaky little glances like they expect me to disappear. I've only been back a few weeks but after that disastrous welcome back party I thought things were getting back to normal but noo that would be to easy. _Everyone watches me like I'm going to freak out and disappear again, come on people! Can you at least try to give me some credit or put yourselves in my shoes? Whoa talk about being a downer, I need to push these broody thoughts away __and work on the positive, from now on no more broody Buffy! _"Food!" I say as we approach the library and the smell of pizza hits me and my stomach gives a loud embarrassing growl. The others look at me and I blush "Hey slayer here, extremely fast metabolism, I'm hungry don't give me those looks!" The others laugh as my stomach growls again and my blush gets deeper, "Stupid stomach." I grumble as I pull out a chair and open one of the pizzas. "Pineapple anchovy! I haven't had this in years, thanks Giles." I happily begin to munch my pizza when Xander speaks up, "Yeah thanks G-man I thought we were going to be doomed with another day of Hot dog surprise." We all shudder as we contemplate the mysterious evils of the dreaded hot dog surprise.

Giles glares at him before responding " Do not call me that! And as for the pizza you'll have to thank the new slayer when she returns from the restroom." I'm about to take another bite of pizza when this catches my attention. "New slayer? What new slayer? Why is she here? Am I going to be replaced?! Giles make with the splainy now!" So I might be a little panicked but I cant help it. I'm just getting use to thing again, trying to adjust to being back and assure everyone I'm not going to run off or break down and I don't need another slayer to complicate things. He begins to speak as his gaze locks onto something behind us "Ah here she is now, perhaps she may be able to answer any questions you may have." I turn around to meet the newcomer but when I see her my heart seems to skip a beat and my eyes go wide , we're both frozen in place , our eyes locked on each other and she looks just as shocked. I open my mouth to speak and at first nothing comes out but finally I'm able to force a single word through my lips "Firecracker?"

**NOTE: **_** I know the whole Firecracker and Tinkerbell thing is lame but we're going by childhood nicknames here so bear with me through any cheesiness. **_


End file.
